


Protection

by FinnofRen



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Side Finn, Dark!Finn, Fluff, Force Healing, Force Use, Hurt/Comfort, Knight of Ren AU, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 12:32:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8489776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FinnofRen/pseuds/FinnofRen
Summary: After Seven has a near fatal encounter with a fellow Knight of Ren he and his master have a heart to heart.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Because [this conversation](http://finnofren.tumblr.com/post/152809246852/finnlo-discussion-post-1) between bottomfinnlo and kyloandfinnren gave me plot bunnies and I really needed to finish and post something for these two. (More to follow soon, I promise.)

The gym is bathed in the stark light coming from the glow panels in the ceiling, the air is filled with the pungent stench of charred flesh and the acrid smell of ozone. 

Seven runs his finger lightly over the skin revealed where Jafan slit his shirt open. There is a light gash, burned straight across his chest from the lightsaber strike and several more smaller, but deeper marks from the Force lighting his opponent had unleashed afterwards. 

They all hurt, but he's had worse during sparring practice as a Stormtrooper. And they could easily have been much, much worse. 

Though he had succeeded in holding back the first onslaught of lightning, Jafan would have got through his defenses leaving him far more badly injured had Kylo not stepped in when he did and dispelled the lightning aside. 

Seven knows there'll likely be a price for that rescue. It had made Jafan's anger and jealousy deepen, he had seen it in his eyes when Kylo told him to stand down and Seven knows he'll turn those dark passions at him, not at their master. 

Mentally he shrugs, he'll just have to be better prepared next time then. 

The stomp of heavy booted feet echoes through the empty gym and comes to a halt right behind him but Seven doesn’t stir, he knows too well Kylo's footsteps. 

A light touch from long, strong fingers brushes across the side of his neck and he hisses in pain as Kylo touches a wound he hadn't yet realized was there. Then he feels the cool thrill as the Force starts working under his skin, as a gentle acceleration of the healing and a balm on his pain. 

It will never cease to surprise him that Kylo pays such attention to his injuries. As a Stormtrooper they were all expected to ignore them unless they were so severe they hampered performance, but Kylo will treat even the smallest cut he gets. 

"Why did you interfere?" Seven asks softly. 

Kylo doesn't answer merely moves his hand to Seven's chest and repeats the process with one of the scorch marks there. 

"Why?" Seven press. "You wouldn't do it for another." 

He knows that that is half of Jafan's problem, that he, the youngest and newest of all the Knights of Ren, has their master's ear and protection, that he wields an influence over the master of the Knights that no one else does and that Jafan wants it for himself.  

"Does it bother you?" Kylo asks in return. "Do you think it's because I think you cannot protect yourself?" 

"No, yes, maybe. I don't know, I want to know _why_?" Seven counters as he spins around and steps back from Kylo.  

He knows he wouldn't have been able to protect himself against the Force lightning, not a second time, but it wouldn't have mattered to Kylo had it been any of the others. 

He knows pressing their master isn't wise. No matter how close they are, how much Kylo values him, no matter how often they share bed, there are limits that even Seven cannot step over without great risk. So no this isn't wise, but he's too tired, cranky and in pain to care and he has been wanting an answer for quite some time. This is as good a chance as any. 

"Why do you treat me so different than the others?" He presses again. 

Kylo's face is an unreadable mask to Seven as they lock eyes. Then Kylo reach out and touches Seven chest just beneath the burn mark from Jafan's lightsaber. 

"Though he struck you he knew he couldn't defeat you, that knowledge fed his fear which in turn fed his jealousy. He knows he's no match for you. The lightning was a freak event that he will not be able to replicate." 

Seven folds his arms, dislodging Kylo's touch. 

"Which will just make him hate me more, but that's not the point. Right then and there he could have taken me down and had it been any of the others you would have let him. So answer my question, Kylo. Why?" 

A tiny smile forms on Kylo's lips. 

"Because you are the only one of them that can be my match. Not yet, but soon. You have come further in the short time that you have trained than any other have. You not only have the potential, you are dedicated and driven. You will outmatch them all, Jafan knows this." 

Kylo's lifts his hand up to Seven's mouth and his fingertips gently brushes across his bottomlip and Seven shivers at the touch. 

"I protect you for the same reason he hates you, you are what he can only be in his dreams. Nor do you rely on my protect or even expect it, though you must know by now that you have it." 

He ends his words with a kiss on Seven's lips, warm and passionate like always. Seven is fairly certain he's the only one who ever gets to experience Kylo in this way, affectionate and with his guards even a little down. 

Seven kisses him back with equal intensity and soon Kylo's hand slides down over the revealed skin on his chest, carefully avoiding the injuries, teasing one bared nipple. 

Seven pulls back. 

"Stop." He was never an exhibitionist and the thought of getting caught has always been one of his biggest turn offs. 

Kylo steps back, but Seven doesn't miss the heated look he gives him. 

"My quarters after dinner?" Kylo asks, his voice slightly shaky though no one but Seven would have noticed had they overheard. "We need to have these looked at," he continues, indicating the burns on Seven's chest. 

"Yes. And if _that_ is what you want to do." Seven puts a trace of heat into his voice when he answers, a not so subtle hint that it's not his injuries that he'd like Kylo to look at. 

Kylo smiles. 

"Till then," he says and turns to part. Halfway to the door he continues, "And Seven, I expect you to be able to counter such an attack yourself in the future." 

"Yes, Master," Seven replies as the door shuts behind Kylo. 

A lopsided grins spreads on his face as he stares at the closed door. 

Jafan is wrong. He thinks having Kylo's attention gives Seven an advantage, that being his right hand somehow gets him off easy. Though the position _does_ have its perks, Seven wonders if Jafan would be so eager for the position if he knew that Kylo runs Seven twice as hard as everyone else. Not that he minds, high though they are Kylo's standards are still nowhere as exacting as his own. 

Pulling off his ruined shirt Seven winces slightly. He briefly contemplates doing something about his wounds, then settles on using a Force technique to suppress the pain for now. If he cannot  ignore minor injuries like this he'd be worthless in the field and he enjoys it more when Kylo does it anyway. 

Besides he doesn't have the time, he has work to do. Jafan will not let today slide. Kylo is unassailable so Seven knows he'll be coming after him again and probably sooner rather than later. 

 _O_ _r_ _m_ _a_ _y_ _b_ _e_ _h_ _e_ _'_ _l_ _l_ _b_ _e_ _e_ _n_ _r_ _a_ _g_ _e_ _d_ _e_ _n_ _o_ _u_ _g_ _h_ _t_ _o_ _act_ _ua_ _lly_ _t_ _r_ _y_ _f_ _o_ _r_ _K_ _y_ _l_ _o_ _?_  

He shouldn't have a single chance if he does, but still it doesn't hurt to be prepared for all eventualities. And Seven knows that though Kylo relies on Seven for protection as little as he relies on Kylo, he has his master's back as much as Kylo has his and Kylo knows this. 

And maybe there lies the true root of his relationship with Kylo Ren, one that Jafan can never emulate no matter how hard he tries. Because out of all of them, Seven is the only one Kylo _trusts_. 

Seven shakes his head dismissing the thought, it's entirely academic at this time. Jafan will never accept Seven's position no matter what the reason. 

He sits down cross legged on a training mat, closes his eyes and reaches out to touch the Force. The icy, chilly feel of it fills him and for a few moments he allows himself to simply be in it, then he brings his mind back to the task at hand. He has mostly theoretical knowledge of how to stop a Force lightning attack, now the time have come to learn it in practice. 


End file.
